Oracle has accused Rimini Street of "massive theft" of Oracle software and support materials.

The lawsuits are viewed by many as somewhat cynical attempts by Oracle to protect its lucrative software maintenance revenues against outsiders.

Oracle, like other major vendors of enterprise software, including SAP, derives a major portion of its revenues from application support and maintenance services. Customers who don't sign up for the services are precluded from receiving any further software updates or patches from the company.

SAP's admission of liability will likely resolve its dispute with Oracle quicker, said Frank Scavo, managing partner of the IT consulting firm Strativa.

But the real test of Oracle's ability to prevent other companies from providing maintenance and support services for its software is the Rimini lawsuit, Scavo said.